Beijing hasn’t always been the capital of China as a few other select centres have also held the exalted post. For a short but glorious period in the 17th century, for instance, the power of the Middle Kingdom emanated from Shenyang.
Located northeast of Beijing, Shenyang – the capital of Liaoning Province – has origins dating back two millennia. However, it didn’t emerge as a city until the 11th century when it began to prosper as a trading centre for nomads.
Among the powerful nomadic tribes in the northwest of China were the Manchus. They began to flex political muscle against the ruling Ming dynasty in the early 1600s.
In 1625, the founder of the Manchu State, Nurhachi after earlier seizing power from the Ming emperor, moved his capital to Shenyang, then known as Mukden. His first decree was to build an official residence that would rival the palace in Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Today visitors can wander through Shenyang’s still intact royal complex gazing at a collection of some 100 buildings built nearly 400 years ago.
The majority of tourists having previously seen the massive palace complex in Beijing will be able to easily compare the two regal residences.
The most noticeable difference I discovered on a sunny summer afternoon is the lack of crowds and the diminutive size of Shenyang’s ‘Forbidden City’.
Shenyang's Forbidden City
Though Shenyang is well placed on the tourism circuit and has many comfortable hotels there are far fewer visitors trodding the cobblestone paths in its royal compound. And they don’t have such great distances to walk as this palace is about one-tenth the size of the better known one in Beijing.
Even after the founding of the Qing Dynasty – which lasted until 1911 when the last emperor was overthrown – and the shift of the capital back to Beijing in 1644 the Shenyang Palace served as the second seat of power in the empire.
Ongoing restoration and renovation has ensured that the predominately Manchurian architecture survives the cold winters and hot summers of Shenyang.
The century’s old palace enclave in the heart of Shenyang contrasts markedly with the modern commercial city that surrounds it.
Shenyang is not the only major metropolis in the province; Dalian is equally as important but for different reasons.
For more than 5000 years the tip of a picturesque peninsula near Dalian, a key industrial centre and a major port of northern China has been known by area residents as “Golden Pebble Beach” because of its oddly shaped stones and strangely coloured rocks.
In 1988, “Jin Shi Tan”, as the place is called in Chinese, was gazetted by the State’s Council of the People’s Republic of China as a “First Grade National Scenic Spot”.
Jin Shi Tan
Four years later its sweeping expanses of dense forest, clean sand and clear water and uncommon landscape were approved by the State Council as a “National Tourism Resort”.
Work began immediately to develop select recreational facilities and create what’s now considered to be “the most attractive holiday resort in northern China”.
Within the overall recreational facility is a living cultural village where many ethnic groups of China proudly display ancient traditions. As well there are areas for hiking, skiing, sailing and golf, the latter being played at the international standard Golden Pebble Beach Golf Club.
The beach that interrupts the 13th fairway is the namesake for the course. The golden coloured pebbles found here are estimated to be 600 million years old.
Far younger are the tall and leggy models who regularly strut their stuff on the cat walks of the city’s fashion houses.
One of Dalian’s many tags is “City of Fashion” as the hilly port city has gained a global reputation in the international rag trade. This continues to grow each year following the success of the Dalian International Fashion Festival.
During this week long exhibition, fashion shows, entertainment performances and special sightseeing tours are organised.
One place in Dalian where a sightseeing tour is not needed is in its centrally located Zhong Shan Square. The epicentre of this city is unlike any other in China because it’s ringed by buildings built by the Russians and Japanese.
Both countries occupied the strategically placed city at various times. They left legacies in stone and brick that act as backdrops to a daily parade passing through the square.
On Sunday afternoons there are English and Japanese ‘corners’ in the square where locals come to practice language skills.
Zhong Shan Square is also a hive of activity every weekday. Activity is most intense during the early morning and late evening.
As early as 5 AM on summer mornings the beautifully landscaped and hill back-dropped square is filled with young and old alike engaged in Tai Chi exercises.
As well it’s quite common and quite acceptable to see stylish single women dancing together. In addition to watching their step no doubt these working ladies discuss fashion trends as they fox trot well into another night in the ‘Paris of China’.
Related posts:
-
Heya, already been reading your blogging site for a long time. I manage a comparable blog page but I keep receiving a pile of spam comments, how can you maintain your blog page so clean?
-
I’m so thrilled with the new search of your weblog. Gratitude so a lot for keeping it running!
-
Thank you so much, nice job! This was the thing I needed to get.
-
Look forward to reading your next post.
-
The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect.
-
I have recently started using the blogengine.net and I having some problems here? in your blog you stated that we need to enable write permissions on the App_Data folder…unfortunately I don’t understand how to enable it.
-
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in the Feature also.
-
Strange this post is totaly unrelated to what I was searching google for, but it was listed on the first page. I guess your doing something right if Google likes you enough to put you on the first page of a non related search.
-
Good post, however only some of the points were actually treated really good, I think digging deep for the topic to make it more informative will really help, will be looking forward for more informative post than this. Will suggest some points which are to the best of my knowledge. This might help you bringing more information for all of us.
-
I just added your site to my bookmarks. I enjoy reading your posts. Thank you!
-
Resources such as the one you pointed out here will be very valuable to me personally! I will certainly post a link to this web page on my weblog. Read my visitors will find that quite beneficial.
-
The theme of your blog is very beautiful and the article is written very well, I will continue to focus on your article.
-
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.
-
I’m having a strange issue I can’t seem to be able to subscribe your rss feed, I’m using google reader by the way.
-
TY for the useful post! I would not have discovered this myself!
-
i dont really agree with what you are saying how could you think like that?
-
Well I truly enjoyed studying it. This article offered by you is very helpful for good planning.
-
Definitely, what a great site and revealing posts, I will bookmark your website.Have an awsome day!
-
After all, what a fantastic website and informative posts, I’ll add one-way link – bookmark this website? Regards, Reader.
-
Lovely website! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am taking your feeds also
-
Sin City can thus finally be regarded not as a worrying new trend in film-making, but rather as a relic from a past best forgotten: an undeserved tribute to a corrupt art-form.
-
very good inf0 keep up your good work thanks
-
I loved that post, one question though, can I link to it on my blog to share it with my readers ? Thanks.
-
1. First-class story it is without doubt. My girlfriend has been searching for this info.
-
Ohh very much thanks admin
-
Have you thought about adding some videos to your article? I think it will really enhance my understanding.
-
very good \o/
-
yesss very thanks man i love this site
-
I nonetheless don’t feel the affects on the web… actual lifestyles – one hundred% affected
-
gusuinj hdhhh eujdhih
-
Platform beds are a modern revolutionary way to accent or totally reinvent any bed room inside your house. They have fantastic modern style with touches on the simplistic traditional stylings. Platform beds also have grand high quality and unbelievable functionality to maximize room and storage. You don’t need to quit anything with these innovative refreshing and simplistic contemporary beds.
-
Pharma Whey: superior taste, I brought the Choc MInt and what a delight. Never tasted anything as nice. Previously had mamooth and metRX supreme whey but this PHD pharma Whey is better tasting in every way. The product mixes well in manually or in a blender not bits. It is a bit frothy but it goes down after a minute or two. Its only my second day on this product and will let you know how good it works
-
Hi, this a well written post man. Thnkx But I’m having problem with your RSS feed. Fail to subscribe to it. So anybody else experiencing same RSS problem? Anyone who can assist kindly respond. Thankx
-
I would like to thankx for the efforts you have made in composing this article. I am hoping the same top-quality blogpost from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing skill has inspired me to start my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.
-
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for long time and yours is the best I have discovered so far.
-
Very good written post. It will be useful to everyone who employess it, including me. Keep up the good work – i will definitely read more posts.
-
I admire your blog , it has of lot of information. You just got one perennial visitor of this site.
-
thank for post
-
Have you given any consideration at all with translating your main website into Chinese? I know a couple of translaters here that will might help you do it for free if you wanna make contact with me personally.
-
Deference to article author , some wonderful entropy.
Comments are now closed.
40 comments
Trackback link: http://www.cnto.org.au/blog/delights-of-dalian-and-surprises-of-shenyang/trackback/